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Fantastic tortilla chips that are excellent value for money

INTRODUCTION

I'm lucky enough that I've travelled a lot and several years ago, whilst in the southern US, I was introduced to Mexican food. I've had a taste for it ever since, and enjoy making my own versions of my favourite dishes at home. One such food I love is nachos, a plate of tortilla chips covered in melted cheese, salsa and guacamole. Fed up with spending out a premium for tortilla chips I discovered these value range Sainsbury's version a couple of years ago and have been using them regularly ever since.

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

A 200g bag of Sainsbury's Basics tortilla chips costs around 50p. The chips come in a non-recyclable transparent plastic heat-sealed bag which I always find tricky to open without a pair of scissors. The label states the chips are "simply salted, packed with crunch" and the traffic-light nutrition wheel on the label states that these chips are high in calories, fat and salt, have a medium rate of saturated fat and are low in sugars.

The ingredients are simply maize flour, sunflour oil and salt, and the reverse label states that sunflower oil is lower in saturated fats and higher in mono-unsaturated fats. A full nutrition breakdown is also provided.

The chips themselves are triangular, and are approximately 5cm along each side. They have spots of black on one side of each chip, which I image comes from the cooking process. They are around the same thickness as regular potato-based crisps.

USER EXPERIENCE

Getting these chips home unsquished is always a challenge as the packaging offers no protection! Many times I've got home to find over half the chips have got broken into tiny pieces, which is really annoying when making nachos as the chips need to be of a decent size to be picked up with toppings on them!

The packaging is also fiddly to open, with the heat-sealed edgest being impossible to open without scissors, and, of course, these are not always easily to hand. Once a pack is opened I always use a clip to seal the bag as I've found the chips go a little soft and stale when they've been left open for more than a day.

However, once open the chips themselves taste great to me. They aren't too salty; in fact I find them far less salty than both name-brand tortilla chips and ready-salted crisps. They have a good crunch - too good sometimes as sharp bits of tortilla have been known to cut my gums!

The chips have a slight curl in them, which again I assume is down to the manufacturing process.

These chips are too bland for me to eat as a snack on their own, but once covered with cheese, salsa and guacamole they taste fantastic as the plain chip balances the highly-flavoured toppings really well. The chips don't get soggy quickly, allowing me to pick up a chip with topping on it and eat it without too much mess, and the slightly curled shape facilitates me scooping up salsa or guacamole with ease.

CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion these are a great, minimally greasy chip. They are a little bland on their own but when paired with other ingredients they make a great savoury snack.

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Like eating woodchip

I last bought a pack of these about a year ago. I had quite fond memories of getting a reasonably good lightly flavoured tortilla chip - I even preferred these to some of the premium brand chips whose flavour can sometimes be almost overpowering. I am eating from a pack of these I bought two days ago and I am not impressed at all. Sainsburys what have you done to these chips?

They are 50p for a 200g bag and are currently 3 for the price of 2. A bargain? I think not. Thank goodness I only bought one pack. According to the blurb on the front of the packet they are 'simply salted, packed with crunch.' To me, they are barely salted in any way - and rather than being crunchy they are unpleasantly hard triangular shaped chips which sort of break on your teeth. That is not the same as being crunchy. 'Crunchy' does not make your molars ache. My other half has just tried one and announced: "Well, there're nothing really aren't they?" I tend to agree. The spicy dip doesn't do much to disguise their failings.

The flavourless sins of this product are compounded by their FSA traffic light rating. A quarter of a bag is 245 calories, 12g of fat, 0.63g of salt and gets three red lights. Saturated fats come in at 1.4 g per quarter pack with an orange light and only sugar at 2.0g gets a green light. The packaging is not recyclable.

The chips are made from Maize Flour, Sunflower Oil, Salt. Innocuous sounding ingredients for the blandest chips in town. I am reading the pack and pondering whether to take up Sainsburys "Try me....we're sure you'll love this product. If you don't simply return for a full refund." It's not something I usually bother doing for such a small amount of money but there's always a first time.....

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Splash out a litte more and get something better quality

I am going through a big phase of being addicted to tortilla chips and dip so I am trying all varieties of them to find the best. My next stop was Sainsbury's Tortilla Chips from their basic range.

Price - 50p for one 200g bag.

Packaging - The same as all their basic range, this packaging is simple. A see-through bag with the white and orange of Sainsbury's basic products on the front and all the information needed on the back

Ingredients - Maize Flour, sunflower oil and salt

Nutrition per 1/4 bag:Fat - 12gSalt - 0.63gEnergy - 245kcal

I would not recommend this product to anyone either on a diet or trying to cut down on their salt levels. The fat content for only 1/4 of a bag is over 12% of the guidline amount for women and the salt is also ridiulously high. I am lucky as I eat healthy normally and have minimal amoung of salt in my everyday food so I can afford these as a treat every now and then. However, they also taste extremley salty and you need a nice, cooling flavour dip to cover the taste. That kinda makes them pointless. A good chip and dip balance, for me, is two items that compliment each other and not needing one to cover the taste of the other.The price of them is low but you can get the exact same looking and tasting product from Tesco or Asda for even cheaper but i would recommend giving them a miss altogether. If you are the type of person to buy items like chips and dip for a treat then it is worth spending a bit extra and getting a product of better quality.

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May be 1/8 the cost of Doritos, but they sure aren't 1/8 the quality

At 26p, I was expecting these to taste as if they were made from mushed up cigarette ends and that weird fluff I keep finding in my jeans pockets. However I was pleasantly surprised.Yes, they are a little thinner than the lead brand name. They break in your hand easier, and there are only the plain, salted flavour available. But remember, a packet of lead brand name tortillas of similar size costs almost £2 these days, so next time you're in Sainsbury's and looking at the tortilla chips, remember that for the same cost as 1 bag of the lead brand name you could buy 8 of these.Taste wise, they aren't too much different to any other salted tortilla chips. They are, however, very salty. So if you're on a diet, or don't like too much salt, then these aren't for you. But I like them this way; I know it's not good for my health, so I simply don't have them as often.Combine it with the basics salsa dip pot, and you've got a pretty good snack that would have cost over £4 if you'd gone for the brand name equivalent, however you really aren't missing out on quality or taste despite the price gap.These are perfect for nachos as well; if you're making enough for everyone at a small gathering, this is a much more cost effective way of doing things. See my above comment; 1 bag of brand name tortillas costs the same as 8 of these, so they're perfect for parties.

All in all then, they're fantastic value, and probably worth more than Sainsbury's ask for them. Yes, they probably could have done with a little less salt, but if you're that health conscious, I doubt you'd be looking at tortilla chips at all.

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great tortilla chips I am in LOVE with!

I absolutely LOVE cheese, so any dish with it is right up my street! At times of perfect laziness and hunger the easiest and quickest snack I make is homemade nachos (which I am eating with one hand in between writing this review!) and these tortilla chips are perfect for this!

They are from the Sainsburys basic range, and cost a mere 50p for a 200g bag. The bag is transparent with the simple basic value strip across the front and opens like a bag of crisps so is not resealable but I generally combat this by wrapping the leftovers in clingfilm or putting it in a resealable bag I already stock at home. Once the bag is opened if they are not resealed I find they go soft and taste funny within 24 hours or so, so definitely seal them up so they can still be eaten!

The tortillas chips themselves are of excellent taste, as they are crunchy, filling delicious. They are lightly salted, so the flavour is not overbearing to conflict with having them with dips or as part of a nacho combo but also enough to eat a few of these on their own without being too bland.

Per pack they are relatively healthy, but come filled with a 10.4% amount of salt for the Guideline amount for a woman's daily intake and 17.1% fat which is hard to imagine considering they seem so light!

My favourite way to make the meal is to put the nachos on a tray, and then spoon some mild salsa (I don't like sour cream or guacamole in this dish strangely enough!) and then A LOT of mozzarella all over and place in the oven for 5-10 minutes until all crispy and golden brown. Voila! A warm and filling meal, all at a fraction price due to the bargain tortilla chips ( also the bargain salsa I also get from sainsburys lol!)

I would definitely recommend these tortilla chips as my sister enjoys them with dips and they really are versatile, delicious and of course only 50p! Here in London I can just about get a packet of crisps at that price!

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Delicious Basics snack from Sainsburys.

I am a huge fan of pretty much all kinds of crisps, and although most people fall sucker to chocolate and sweets, my cravings always seem to be some crisps or another. I am always craving tortilla chips especially as I just find them so tasty, so I picked up some Sainsbury's Basics Tortilla Chips when I was doing my weekly shop.

In this bag you get 200 grams of crisps which is a share size bag so a lot larger than just an individual packet of crisps. These retail at only 50p which is absolutely fantastic considering how many you get and when you compare them to the price of standard size crisps these days. You really do get good value for money with these crisps and this is why I continue to purchase them. Obviously as they are an own brand of Sainsburys, they are only available in their stores or online if you order your groceries to your door.

As you can see from the packaging, it is nothing special and matches the rest of the own branded products. Very plain and simple, but this does not fuss me as long as they taste nice. The bag is easy to open and you do get a generous portion in this bag which makes it perfect for sharing with friends and family, or even to just treat yourself here and there if you fancy a treat, as they do not go off quickly which is great. The tortilla chips themselves are as you would expect any tortillas, triangular in shape and a standard size. They smell absolutely delicious when you open up the bag and I could not wait to tuck in to these.

Although I do like to eat these crisps plain because I do tend to love bland foods such as these slightly salted crisps, I do often have them with dips. My personal preferences are salsa with tortilla chips as it just makes them taste so yummy, and you could even experiment using this tortillas to make some yummy nachos. Other dip ideas might be sour cream, guacamole or hummus. obviously depending on your preferences. The crisps themselves do taste lovely on there own, although I do find them a little dry so you probably might want to purchase a dip along with these. They really are delicious considering the bag only costs 50p and I think they taste just as good as some of the branded tortilla chips which you pay up to six times more for at the recommended retail price. The only downfall of the taste is that although they are 'lightly salted', I do find that there is perhaps a little too much salt on these for my liking, and I know that others would agree with this also. Other than this though I was extremely satisfied as far as taste goes, and I will happily continue to buy these over Doritos in future.

Ingredients are obviously an important part to everybody's food purchases, and the only ingredients which are contained within these Basics tortilla chips are maize flour, sunflower oil and salt which is fantastic as there are no hidden extras and you really get the genuine product which I know is suitable for the majority of people's diets. As far as dietary matters go, these are not the healthiest snack going which is expected anyway. When you take a look a the back of the packet there seems to be a lot of red, showing that these should probably only be a treat! Each serving (which is a quarter of the pack/50 grams) contains 245 calories, 12 grams of fat and 0.63 grams of salt. All of which hit the red traffic light coding system when it comes to the nutritional information. However, this does not bother me particularly as they are tasty and I only eat them as a treat rather than on a daily basis. If you are buying these for just the odd snack, do not let this put you off!

Overall, I am really happy that I spotted these tortilla chips when doing my weekly shop as I am now hooked on them and will continue to buy them. Despite being a little dry and salty, when accompanied with a dip these are an excellent treat for yourself and make great nibbles if you have guests over. Don't waste your money on the more expensive brands when you can get the same for less! Thanks for reading.

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A tasty and great value snack for all the family

When my family and I get together of a weekend it is usually not without a variety of snacks as my Mum is the ever attentive host. Crisps and in particular tortillas are a favourite, being that they can be dipped in a wide range of dips, salsas and hummus. However we have a problem and that is that a member of my family is a celiac; that is he cannot eat wheat in any form and therefore we have to find tortillas without any wheat content. Having browsed my local Sainsburys a few weeks ago, I found that 90% of tortilla chips contain wheat in some form and that these Sainsburys chips were the only ones that didn't, hence we bought a packet to give them a go.

Sainsburys basics tortilla chips are packaged in a clear plastic bag which is illustrated with a white label displaying the Sainsburys basics orange logo on the front. The bag weighs in at 200g, and feels slightly less bulky than some of the other brands of tortilla chips around, however a bag will easily cater for a couple of servings when used for a group of around 6-8 people. These chips are very competitive, being only 50p per bag they mean that you can stock up for less and should you not want to advertise that they are of the basics range you can simply pour the tortillas into a bowl and serve, no-one will ever be the wiser.

As previously mentioned these chips contain no wheat and therefore cater for a larger audience of people. The ingredients in a standard bag are as follows:

* Maize Flour* Sunflower Oil* Salt

In terms of your guideline daily amount a quarter of a packet of these chips provides amongst many things the following:

Upon opening a packet of these chips you are immediately struck by the salty and slightly floury smell. The chips themselves look like any other tortilla being light yellow in colour with dark brown ridges. They are very crunchy in consistency which means that upon liberally dipping into any sauce they do not go soggy but retain their crispy shell. The tortillas taste very salty and savoury in flavour, the salt being highly distinguishable and not dissimilar to the more expensive brand of Doritos cool tortillas. As anticipated the chips are complimented when dipped especially in a salsa sauce as the slightly spicy flavour mingles with the saltiness of the chip to provide a perfect snack.

Although not the most healthy snack on the market, these tortillas are easily as tasty as some of their competitors and the price and fact that they contain no wheat makes them an all round win-win with my family. I have therefore scored them 5 stars out of 5.

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Ideal for parties etc

I bought the Sainsburys own brand of Tortilla Chips a while ago and never looked back, I went in to buy Dorritos but when I saw the price 25p for a 100gram bag I could not resist giving them a try.

The packaging on the sainsburys basics range is, well, Basic!! A plain white packet with orange detail and a clear window section.

The packets were slightly squashed on the shelves so I had to dig through them to find a packet that was not crushed, I managed and the packet had was perfectly fine.

The Tortillas have a very crisp texture and are an appetising golden colour with the usual darker flecks through them, they are nicely salted. I have served these warm with cheese and salsa and they stayed crisp, also I have enjoyed eating them as they are dipped in salsa or garlic dip.

The packets are not all that big at 100gram but if they are for a party etc at that price it really is not a problem buying more than one packet.

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Good for the casual eater

I love tortilla chips, usually on their own. The problem is that they're usually pretty expensive, until I found these little beauties on a shelf.

Last time I got them, they were around 25p. They don't come in a verybig bag, but at that price, you can buy 2 or 3 and it'll still be cheaper than Doritos or Sainsbury's own brand.

Ok, the packaging isn't the best (clear bag with basics bit across it) but at least you can see how many you've got left.

Trying them, they're nicely salted without being too strong, and they have a good bite. I don't usually eat them with a dip, but they look to be substantial enough to be able to deal with a dip on top - personal favourite is sour cream and chives - yummy with a crispy tortilla with a bit of taste. They do feel a little bit grainy if you chew for too long, but I guess that's about the only bad point

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Overall a cheap tasty snack with endless posibilities.

Sainsbury's basic tortilla chips are great when it comes to parties or just as a snack on a girly night in. Whether you like them warm or cold I would recommend giving these a try.

Priced at only 25pence for a 100 grams this is a bargain. This lightly salted snack is great to dip in salsa sauce or warmed up in the microwave (for around 45 seconds) with melted cheese on top to add extra flavouring. You can even use them to make proper nachos with jalapeños and everything.

The chips themselves are like the cool ordinal Doritos but not as overpowering with taste. They are a bit blander, also there is a slight salty tasty, But i like them best with a sauce. They are triangular but I found a lot had been crushed and fallen to the bottom of the packet. So it was very minimal to how many actual triangular tortilla's there is in a packet.

The packet is plain and simple and comes in a large plastic clear crisp packet, with a white strip across the middle with the details of the product on the front and the store logo printed in orange on the strip.

Each packet contains 245 calories and 12 grams of fat. Yet again they are great as a snack but not a regular purchase.

I really like these tortilla chips and would recommend that they are worth a try, and if you don't like them you've only waste 25pence. If you like them, then you'll save yourself a little bit of money by switching and saving to the Sainsbury's basic range.

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Wouldn't recommend

I have only purchased these a couple of times, and I'm not really that impressed by them.

These are the cheapest tortillas available in Sainsburys and I think you can really tell. They cost about 25p for a 100g bag, which is a very low cost but I'm not sure I will buy them again.

The main concern I have with these is that nearly every bag in the supermarket has been squashed (I'm not sure why this is) and therefore all the chips inside the bag have been broken beyond all recognition, and I assume most people buy these for dipping or for chillies and they are virtually pointless if they are all broken into tiny pieces.

I usually buy tortillas to accompany chillies and I would not recommend these, the more expensive sainsburys ones that come in a variety of flavours and cost about 99p for 200g are far better.

There is also only one flavour of these chips and that is lightly salted, and while im sure that may be healthier than the other chips they do tend to taste of nothing. The lightly salted is an over statement. They are extremely plain, which might be ok if you like them really really plain but for me I would just like a tad more salt on them.

These are disappointing, and I wouldn't buy them again, I'm afraid with these you really do get what you pay for, broken flavourless chips.

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Well worth buying

Sainsbury's Basics Tortilla Chips

Description: Manufacturer: Sainsbury's / Type: Snacks

Anyone who regularly reads my reviews (many thanks, I really appreciate it!) will know that I review a lot of products from the supermarket ranges which offer savings to customers by spending less on posh looking packaging. As we all know, the packaging just gets thrown away anyway so it makes sense not to spend extra on it.

I have recently started buying items from the Sainsbury's Basics range, whereas before, I admit that I passed it by, assuming that the cheap and nasty packaging meant that the product would also be cheap and nasty. I have been surprised to find that on many occasions, this isn't the case and the products have actually been great. It is great to know that you can save money while still enjoying the things that you would usually purchase and these tortilla chips are a definite success.

I have recently been trying to lose the few extra pounds that I gained while overindulging throughout the festive season. My jeans feel snug and so I have thrown away the unhealthy snacks and treats and am filling up on fruit, vegetables and other healthy foods.

Having said that, we cannot be good all of the time and it was my birthday last week. It was on a Tuesday and we had contractors in the house from 8am to 6pm. I had been on night shift the night before and had to face the day with only a few hours sleep, needless to say, I wasn't in a particularly celebratory mood! Mr Siamese and I decided to celebrate properly at the weekend (which was fab, I have a lovely boyfriend and am very grateful!) so on the actual day, I just relaxed at home, or at least tried to through the hammering and sanding!

Mr Siamese came home for lunch and we had nachos which is one of my all time favourite snacks. Unfortunately, it isn't that healthy but hey, it was my birthday! I paid just £0.24 for a 100g packet of these tortilla chips which was a third of the price of some of the competing brands.

I will admit that the chips were perhaps not as large as some brands, but they were deliciously crunchy and well salted. By the time I had topped them with salsa, jalepenos and cheese, you couldn't notice the size anyway. Everyone has their own personal way of making nachos of course but for me, you have to use monteray jack cheese which is delicious and goes perfectly with the other ingredients.

If you are a fan of nachos then you should certainly save the extra cash and give these a go, they also work well with dips and once you have binned the cheap looking packaging, you will never know that they are an economy brand - well worth buying!

These tortilla chips are not very good for you, but neither are the more expensive brands. They are however, delicious, crunchy and well salted. If you buy a more expensive brand then you should pick up some of these and see what you think, they score a respectable 5 Dooyoo stars from me!

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A bargain

I'm a big fan of tortilla chips and could quite easily work my way through a big bag of Doritos whilst watching a film or hanging out with friends. However, the large bags of Doritos retail at around £1.40 which seems pretty expensive to me. My favourite flavour is the Lightly Salted so about a year ago I decided to find an alternative to feed my expensive Doritos habit.

I spotted the Sainsbury's Basics range of torilla chips and was pleased to find that they were lightly salted. I was even more pleased to find that the packs only cost 25p for 100 grams! This works out to less than half the cost of Doritos.

The Basics tortillas are in the same orange and white packaging as the rest of the range with handwriting-style text and a simplistic drawing of tortilla chips rather than a photograph as the higher priced items tend to have. Rather than being in a foil bag, these tortillas are in a plastic bag but I haven't noticed an adverse effects from this on the product.

The packaging bears all the usual nutritional and storage information and the front carries the Sainsbury's traffic light pie wheel. For those not familiar with this, it is a circle broken up into sections displaying things like the calorific, salt and sugar content of the product. It is colour-coded into green for low, amber for medium and red for high. The wheel for this product is as follows:

The high presence of red basically means that this product is not very healthy due to its high fat and salt content so its probably best to only indulge occasionally rather than eating them all the time. It's a pretty handy diagram as it can often be difficult to work out whether something's salt or fat content is high or low in comparison to the amount in the pack.

As for the taste of these tortillas, I really like them even though they are quite salty. I really like salty snacks but I can see that these are not to everyone's taste as they are saltier than Doritos. However, even if you don't like them to eat on their own, they go well with dips such as hummus or guacamole. They are also good as nachos with chilli and cheese.

Overall, the cheap price of these tortilla chips make them excellent for parties or as part of a meal with chilli.

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.

Although nothing beats Dorito's for flavoured Tortilla Chips, these are nice for the price and also since they are just a lightly Salted flavour.

These cost only 25p for 100g bag. Great value for money.These are the Sainsbury's budget range, called Basics. Has some nice food in it, but some not so nice!

The bag is pretty plain for these, as packaging always is for budget brands, but i'm not much bothered. You can see through the packaging and see some of the Chips, so you know what your buying. Most of the Chips came out whole, but there was a few scrunched up bits at the bottom.

The Chips are crunchy and quite big. They don't taste the oily either and are pretty dry, but in a good way. There is only a light sprinkling of Salt on these. Fair enough you could add you own Salt, or you can top these with Cheese or other Nacho toppings.

They are nice since they are just quite plain tasting, and I don't mind to eat these straight from the packet without anything added to them.

Yes, they are not in the same league as Dorito's in terms of flavouring, but they are a cheap simple snack that is certainly worth the 25p.

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Perfect as an accompaniment, less so for dipping

I am a huge advocate for the sainsburys basics range and these tortilla chips are no exception.

Priced at less than any standard bag of walkers, and far less that doritos!

There is only one flavour which is lightly salted. This works well in our house as the chips are only used as an accompaniment to chillis.

The packaging is simple and this probably contributes to the low price and we usually decant them into a nice dish before guests arrive.

I am a firm believer that just from the taste of these chips you would not know that they are from a basics range.

The only downsides which I have found are initially, that when I go to collect these from the store you have to rummage to find a bag which hasn't been so squashed that most of the chips are broken and secondly that when we have tried them alone with a dip they have been slightly too salty.

However, if like us you dont want the hassle of rice and need something tasty to go with your chilli, give these a go!!